Good job: 60,000 teachers computer trained

[RV Pundit]

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I am glad Jubilee has kept the course of this very ambitious dream to digital equip all public kids.

60,000 teachers computer trained and I think nearly 90% plus of schools now have electricity.

At the same time, 19,000 schools have been connected to electricity by the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) and 605 others connected to solar power

http://www.nation.co.ke/counties/mombasa/digital-rollout-primary-schools/-/1954178/2826450/-/j4k944/-/index.html

In the meantime KU and JKUAT have started computer assembling point.

[RV Pundit]

Jubilee: Electrify near double the schools in 2yrs than has been done for last 50 yrs...thanks to 12B annual allocation to REA.

By June 2013, out of the overall 21,222 primary schools in the country, 10,157 had been electrified. To complete the electrification of all primary schools by June 2015, the Authority put in place a programme aimed at completing electrification of the remaining 11,062 primary schools in two years with 5,000 primary schools planned for electrification in the 2013/14 financial year and 6,065 in the 2014/15 financial year.

[veritas]

Great news! My mind is clicking in ways to connect those computers up to servers in the most efficient way possible. They need internet right?

hmm....

[Georgesoros]

This is good news.
My take is that good teachers are those who have an urge to change the world by creating thinking students. Info tech will certainly improve access to info.

[veritas]

They need to be connected to the internet. 19 000 schools.... that's a lot of switches, servers, modems, cabling...

Does anyone have connections in that ministry? Who's docket is it under?

http://mobile.nation.co.ke/business/Liquid-Telecom-Kenya-Lapsset-Fibre-Optic/-/1950106/2444396/-/format/xhtml/-/f019rd/-/index.html

[RV Pundit]

It is an audacious dream and despite the naysayers saying it can't be done...I think gov should just go on.

Only corruption can and will cripple this thing.

But providing these kids with computers..will change their lives in ways we cannot even imagine.

[Sibuor]

They need to be connected to the internet. 19 000 schools.... that's a lot of switches, servers, modems, cabling...

Does anyone have connections in that ministry? Who's docket is it under?

http://mobile.nation.co.ke/business/Liquid-Telecom-Kenya-Lapsset-Fibre-Optic/-/1950106/2444396/-/format/xhtml/-/f019rd/-/index.html

Computerizing all schools was transferred to the misnistry of Information, Communication and Technology headed by Fred Matiangi.

[veritas]

Thanks Sibby ! 

Can someone please get me a meeting with Fred Matiangi

Please let him know I'd like to host him here in Sydney.

I've started my proposal just now:

https://prezi.com/xf6lkydenysl/data-cabling-vision-2030/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Feel free to dance along to it !

[Omollo]

I wish they would make use of the low oil prices to generate enough for all the new connections. Too many blackouts from what I hear

[Sibuor]

Veri, check your PM

[Georgesoros]

computers is just a tool. Doesn't make any kid smarter. Only provides access to info. I know of no school that has made kids smarter by using iPads etc. Well trained teachers can use laptops effectively while it can also be a disaster for others.

[RV Pundit]

Computer is one kind of a tool.I think there was some study done in Kilgoris, Transmara that showed just throwing those kids computers without any teacher, made them smarter in very short time; they soon figure out how to use it, how to read, write and get all aids.

Computer is not like a book....it is nearly everything.

I say throw these kids these powerful gadgets and watch them over 10 yrs...and they will be as nearly smart as any kid anywhere.

computers is just a tool. Doesn't make any kid smarter. Only provides access to info. I know of no school that has made kids smarter by using iPads etc. Well trained teachers can use laptops effectively while it can also be a disaster for others.

[Kadudu]

Pundit, you will be surprised that in Palo Alto where many of the Silicon Valley elite live most schools there do not offer any computer lessons for the kids. Computers in many schools there are no-go-zone for the students. The parents who earn their living from these gadgets keep their kids away from them. What an irony!
Personally I would want my kid to go to kindergarten, sing, dance, paint etc. Computers the kid will confront later in life and he will have enough of them.

[RV Pundit]

That is crazy idea. Bill Gates, Zuckerberg and name all those guys spent their childhood with computers not running around dancing. Africans kids have been singing and dancing; and there is nothing to show for it.

The country that experimented with giving kids computer I think is Estonia and they are doing well. Skype is one of their products.

By the time your kids are done dancing; their best years when the brain is curious will be over; and you'll end up with third rate musician.

Silicon valley kids may dance and paint in schools because they live with computers at home.

Pundit, you will be surprised that in Palo Alto where many of the Silicon Valley elite live most schools there do not offer any computer lessons for the kids. Computers in many schools there are no-go-zone for the students. The parents who earn their living from these gadgets keep their kids away from them. What an irony!
Personally I would want my kid to go to kindergarten, sing, dance, paint etc. Computers the kid will confront later in life and he will have enough of them.

[Kadudu]

I think we have a divergent view on the issue but I accept your concept.
Let my kids dance which brings joy to my heart. Kids sitting for hours with Minecraft for hours.
 

That is crazy idea. Bill Gates, Zuckerberg and name all those guys spent their childhood with computers not running around dancing. Africans kids have been singing and dancing; and there is nothing to show for it.

The country that experimented with giving kids computer I think is Estonia and they are doing well. Skype is one of their products.

By the time your kids are done dancing; their best years when the brain is curious will be over; and you'll end up with third rate musician.

Silicon valley kids may dance and paint in schools because they live with computers at home.

[RV Pundit]

Kids are not suppose to make your happy (that is perverted form of joy..go watch a real opera by adults)..you're suppose to nurture them for the future...and that future is now intrinsically linked to computers...and you cannot prepare them without providing them with computers.

I say throw them computers..and leave them to explore...don't even teach them that much.

I think we have a divergent view on the issue but I accept your concept.
Let my kids dance which brings joy to my heart. Kids sitting for hours with Minecraft for hours.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

I am all for computer labs in all schools.  Preferably at higher levels.  It's cheaper.  It's more sustainable.  It permits more direction and tuition.

Any pediatrician worth his salt will tell you that the most important thing for children in lower primary is human interaction. 

The less the time spent on electronic gadgets, the better they are adjusted to the real world.

That said, I could still see some use of giving children access to laptops as a teaching aid, rather than a box to take home and tinker with.

[Kadudu]

Are you now stating that Pundit is a pediatrician not worth his salt?

I am all for computer labs in all schools.  Preferably at higher levels.  It's cheaper.  It's more sustainable.  It permits more direction and tuition.

Any pediatrician worth his salt will tell you that the most important thing for children in lower primary is human interaction. 

The less the time spent on electronic gadgets, the better they are adjusted to the real world.

That said, I could still see some use of giving children access to laptops as a teaching aid, rather than a box to take home and tinker with.

[RV Pundit]

I am not pediatrician but I know the future of human interaction is changing. Windy Old peditrician may not be aware that in the future human interraction will happen on things that make facebook look really old. You are preparing the kids for the future. That is anything 20-30yrs from now. We are talking 2040. How will the world look like then?

Imagine a future where virtual reality merges with physical reality; where everyone has access to 20,000mbps data transfer and can stream video live live...anywhere anyhow.

This nipate human interraction will be primitive then.

Are you now stating that Pundit is a pediatrician not worth his salt?

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

I am not pediatrician but I know the future of human interaction is changing. Windy Old peditrician may not be aware that in the future human interraction will happen on things that make facebook look really old. You are preparing the kids for the future. That is anything 20-30yrs from now. We are talking 2040. How will the world look like then?

Imagine a future where virtual reality merges with physical reality; where everyone has access to 20,000mbps data transfer and can stream video live live...anywhere anyhow.

This nipate human interraction will be primitive then.

Are you now stating that Pundit is a pediatrician not worth his salt?

I think all those are amazing and exciting developments.  I don't even know if we are differing on anything with respect to where technology is going.  My point was only partly on the development of children.  But also on the sustainability of the program.

I think that the human interaction remains the most critical in the child's learning.  How much attention the child's needs are given by the teacher is more crucial than how easy it is for that child to get information from the web.  Most kids will end up playing games online when they would benefit from playing outside.

The real disagreement seems to be about introducing technology to the school environment.  Rather than laptops for all children, it makes economic and learning sense to me, to make sure every secondary school has a well-equipped computer lab and well trained teachers for the same .  What is your argument against that?